How To Conquer Your Fears: 7 Steps

Apr 5, 2022 11:13:49 AM · 4

Fear affects everyone. And it's perhaps the most significant barrier that prevents you from accomplishing your goals. At the basic level, fear limits or stops people from going after what they want. And at one point in your life, you must have faced a similar situation. But, more often, we come up with excuses and abandon a particular goal or objective.

What if you can overcome your fears and accomplish all you ever wished for? It's never too late. Handling your fears is quite liberating. And with the following tips for overcoming your fears, you have the chance to get your confidence back.

7 Tips to Overcome Your Fears

Identify your Fears

Tackling your fear is like a puzzle. It starts with identifying the problem to overcome it. On that note, what are you afraid of? Take a moment to examine your thoughts, bodily sensations, and feelings. After that, take out a notebook and list what popped up in your mind.

Try to be as specific as possible. Also, you can sign up for regular mindfulness meditation. It can help you attain mental clarity and discover what drives you. When you finally discover your purpose, you'll naturally get the motivation to face your fears.
Create Goals

Often, we fail to overcome fear because of the uninspiring goals we've set for ourselves. Luckily, you can turn this around by creating inspiring goals that are within reach. For starters, ask yourself, what do you desire in life?

Or perhaps, where do you want to be at a particular stage in your life? Is your goal a "maybe" or an action plan you're striving to achieve? Also, is it a goal that you can achieve? And are you willing to commit to it?

You can only grow past your fears by having a compelling goal. Dig deeper and discover what you want to achieve in life, and you may find inspiration. You can also compare your life when you achieve the goal versus when you don't.
Understand when you're making excuses

Fear provokes excuses even in unnecessary situations. For instance, you may claim you're too busy or tired to do something. Some of these excuses may be familiar to you even as we speak. And often, we make up these excuses because we fear failing. Further, making excuses is easier and less intimidating than putting in effort and striving to achieve your goals.

Unfortunately, you'll end up feeling unfulfilled due to excuses that you keep making. Therefore, if you want to beat fear, you should understand when you're making excuses. For a change, try a proactive approach when you're working on your goals. And when you recognize instances when you're making excuses, find a way to overcome them.

For example, you can sleep more if you're feeling too tired. If you have a busy schedule, try and make time for your goals. You can assess what's a priority and what's not. And when an excuse pops up, never give in. Instead, stay focused on accomplishing your goals.
Discuss your fears with Others

Sharing your fears can ease your situation. It can help reduce the scariness. You can reach out to your partner, family member, or friend and discuss your situation. From that moment, you'll feel at ease and ready to discover and try possible solutions.

And if you don't have anyone to call, consider reaching out to your therapist or perhaps take advantage of a helpline. If you're in a nursing home, speaking out is easier since there are many people to talk to. If you're retiring at home, having friends or family contacts can help. Spare a few minutes to contact them and discuss with them your fears.
Accepting Failure

The number one cause of fear among people when it comes to accomplishing their goals is fear of failure. Many people fear failing, and as a result, they end up not taking a shot at something. But just like pain, there are valuable lessons in failure. If anything, failure is the best teacher when it comes to success.

And the sooner you accept that failure is part of a successful journey, your fear of it will end. Further, facing failure adds valuable lessons that will help you forge better strategies in the future. Everyone fails, including prosperous business owners, prominent chefs, world leaders, doctors, and scientists. You won't be the first or the last.
Interact with successful people

If your fear is failing, you can mitigate it by interacting with successful people. According to experts, there's power in associating with successful people. With time, you will end up being one of them. You'll become a successful individual, having accomplished your goals. Through their positive mindset, you'll begin seeing situations from different perspectives than before.
Reward Yourself

Lastly, treating yourself can help. For instance, if you take an action you've been avoiding, a small treat will be great motivation in the future. Some of the treats you can consider include dining out, a massage, getting a book, or watching your favorite movie. Little treats are not only motivational but also evoke happiness.

Think about it. It's easier to make excuses about why you're not achieving your goals. And most importantly, pretend that fear has nothing to do with it. Rather than hiding in the blanket of fear, you can leverage the above tips and liberate yourself. Also, you can convert fear from an excuse to a reason to take action. And by doing that, you'll easily accomplish most of your goals.